He was out the door fast, and I traced his steps only minutes later.
No wonder I couldn’t find the dress. Its disappearance is my punishment for being a liar.
My heart warms when Mikhail answers my question. “Is the sky blue?” I listen for the noise of chatty patrons at Ember’s when he adds, “It isn’t the same without you at Ember’s.” I learn why I can’t hear anyone when his laughter is chopped up by the high-powered revs of his engine. “So much so, I’m playing hookie. Wanna join me?”
I almost shout yes until I remember how slow the cab driver was. Anyone would swear he was paid by the hour instead of the mile. I will never make it back to Mikhail’s penthouse before him.
“Um.” My gag is brutal. It almost makes me puke. “I’m still not feeling the best, so maybe you should?—”
“You don’t look sick,” Mikhail interrupts, his tone somewhat stern but still playful. “You look mighty fine to me.”
My eyes shoot in all directions before they land on the camera in the far corner of the foyer. “Are you spying on me?”
“There’s no such thing as spying on your wife.” My anger crumbles away during his last word. I love when he calls me his wife. “Protecting them, yes. Taking care of them, also yes. Spying on them… no such thing.”
“Mikhail—”
“Get your ass outside, Ember, before I remember how your mother never spanked you, so you’re more turned on by the thought than scared.”
Excitement blisters for half a second. Confusion swallows it. “You’re here? At Zelenolsk?”
His hum vibrates through my body before clustering at my clit. I’m so excited to see him again that I sprint through the main entryway doors, uncaring I am about to be called out as a liar.
As I reach the covered driveway, I sling my eyes to the left before veering them to the right. I’m seeking Mikhail’s motorcycle, so it takes me longer than I care to admit to find him at the end of the lot, leaning against a flashy red sports car.
Afamiliarflashy red sports car.
Oh no.
The irony of my purchase isn’t lost on me. I bought this ghastly monstrosity in a fit of anger and confusion. It was a knee-jerk reaction to the chaos swirling in my life. It is a flashing neon sign of how stupid I am, and I cringe more than I gleam when I join Mikhail at the side of a 1.2-million-dollar purchase.
Don’t get me wrong. The car is beautiful, but just like the dress, I can’t keep it. There’s no way Mikhail will take Andrik’s money once he finds out the truth about his inheritance, and as much as I wish I could keep Andrik’s secret forever, cracks are already forming in my armor.
Furthermore, I don’t want to form our reimagination on an unstable surface. It will crumble if I do that, and my heart won’t survive a third demolition.
“I’m guessing it isn’t as easy to refund a car as it is a dress… right?”
“You’d be correct.” Smiling, Mikhail tosses a set of keys into my chest while saying, “So suck in your bottom lip before I bite it, get your ass in the driver’s seat, and give me my money’s worth.”
When he slides his eyes down my body, his gaze hot and wanton, 1.2 million stops ringing through my ears. The same tingling sensation that hit me when we made our wish list for when he got his motorcycle license is racing through my veins now, and I’m too horny to think rationally.
While recalling how packed the floors of Ember’s are every night—so I should earn a decent salary this year—I jog to the driver’s side door, slip onto the leather seat, and then groan.
I should have paid more attention while wasting money I didn’t earn. It’s a manual shift, and I only learned to drive an automatic.
“Don’t even think about it,” Mikhail says while joining me in the low ride.
“It’s a stick. I don’t know how to drive a stick.”
Hepfftsme. “Tell that to my cock. You’ve had no trouble driving it multiple times in the past week.”
Electricity spasms up my arm when he grabs my hand, places it over the gearstick knob, then requests for me to engage the clutch.
“The what?”
Mikhail’s laugh makes me hot all over, and it has me sizing up the backseat. It won’t be as comfortable as a king-size bed, but I’m sure we can make it work.
My eyes flick from the red stitched seats to Mikhail when he says, “Lesson first. Then we’ll test the softness of the leather seats.”
